The Snake and the Jaguar
by Autobot Guardian
Summary: Savannah Howlett just got home after being trapped by Surtur, the Fire-Demon, and is hunted. Death Adder is a member of the Serpent Society, and mute from an accident during the surgery that gave him gills. When the two come across each other, their fates will be intertwined forever, as they always remember each other, through sorrow, joy, and pain.


The sky was like a beautiful black curtain inlaid with glittering gems that night, a few wispy clouds slowly drifting to the east, and the moon a waning crescent. Most would not have realized that such a beautiful night could hide such a saddening sight, but this teen was not most. In her Jaguar-styled costume, the young woman was perched on top of a building, looking down upon a still figure that was lying beneath the stars, blood forming a small pool under his back. The shadows partially hid him, but his identity was unmistakable: Death Adder, a member of the Serpent Society. And he was badly injured.

Like a moving shadow, the teen dropped onto the ground from the roof of the building, her 4-foot-long black hair waving in the faint breeze, and easily absorbed the impact with the ground with her specially-reinforced skeletal structure. Death Adder stirred slightly, apparently having noticed her presence, but he was too weak to move very much. It was plain to see that he was near death. It hadn't been very long since the teen had escaped from a realm of fire, the scent of sulfur and brimstone clinging to her like a foreboding aura, but when she crept closer to where Death Adder lay, he seemed to relax in her presence. ' _Huh. That's strange. Why would anyone relax around_ me _?_ '

When she came close enough to clearly see his face, she was startled to find that he had managed to turn his head so that he was looking at her through half-closed eyes, hope and pain filling his blue-green gaze. It nearly broke her heart to see that. Here was someone who was close to dying, close to his spirit leaving Midgard and traveling to Helheim, and he was wordlessly placing his life in the hands of a stranger… in _her_ hands! Then, she remembered something special about the necklace she wore around her neck, and placed a hand on Death Adder's right wrist.

"Don't worry… I'll help you." With that, she mentally activated the faintly-glowing pink gem set into her necklace, and drew the magical energies out of it, letting them flow up to her right shoulder, and from there down her arm and into her fingertips, and then into Death Adder's body. Within seconds, thanks to the glowing pink crystal (which had started glowing brighter when the teen used it), Death Adder's wounds started to heal, and rapidly at that. After about five minutes, all of his injuries were gone, and there was a new light in his eyes that told the teen that the man would be fine. Slowly, he sat up, and looked at the young woman with a grateful light in his membrane-covered eyes. Subtly, the teen used one of her other gems- which was on one of her armguards- to read his mind like a telepath would, just so that she could hear what he wanted to say. She had read the reports on this particular super-villain, and found that he was most likely mute. Clear as if they were spoken, she heard him ask a question in his mind.

' _How did she do that?_ ' Smiling, she couldn't help answering him.

"I simply used magic from my healing gem, Death Adder. I have to go now, but if you ever need someone to just… listen to you, send me a message. I'll listen whenever you need me to, if I'm available." The teen took a gem off of her left armguard, clear with a glowing blue-green mist swirling in the center, and handed it to the super villain, a kind smile on her face. He accepted it hesitantly, and once he had taken the gem into his hands, the young woman stood up, nodded, and walked away, fading into the shadows seconds later…

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 **Three Weeks Later…**

The young teen was a blur as she leaped from tree to tree in the forest near New York City, trying to escape from the MRD. She had finally gotten a communication from Death Adder just minutes before they found her, and she had finally gotten the chance to tell him her name… well, part of it, at least. She was Savannah Howlett, also called Jaguar, daughter of Logan, the Wolverine, and former private mortal warrior of the Fire Demon Surtur. She had told him her first name and alternate hero identity, but not anything else about herself. Savannah also knew that he had caught flashes of her past when she had comforted him about a little mutant boy he had failed to save, all because he had hesitated as he watched from the shadows. The young woman had done her best to keep her own traumatic past out of his sight when she had comforted him, but she knew that something had leaked through their magical psychic connection, which couldn't be helped now that it was over.

A dart whizzing past her face brought her back into reality, and she realized that she had lingered a few seconds too long on a branch, so she leaped off to another tree, and continued on. If she could just get to where the forest was dark and too thick to use any means of travel other than one's own two feet on the ground. She knew that part of the forest like the back of her own hand by this time, having had to use it countless times in the short few weeks since she had returned to Earth. ' _What a way to spend my first month back home: running from the MRD._ '

Yup. She hadn't been back home for _ten freakin' minutes_ when the MRD first got wind of her, not even giving her any time to get out of the demon armor that she had been wearing when she had escaped from the fire realm, and she had immediately been on the run. Luckily, she still remembered how they were always _extremely_ reluctant to enter the thickest, darkest parts of the forest, so those places were safe havens for her. Soon, thankfully, she had reached those ancient, darker places of the forest, and slipped inside, leaving the MRD behind to report yet another failure to their superiors. This part of the forest had become her home, and she had brought many things inside in the times when the MRD didn't know she had left it. Now, she headed towards the heart of this part of the forest, where the branches had twisted together to make something resembling a house in the trees, the one place where she was safe.

"Ah, home sweet tree, how glad I am that you're still here." Hopping off of a branch, Savannah landed neatly on the platform that had been created by the twisted limbs of the trees, looking around at her belongings. All were right where she had left them. Most of them were 'souvenirs' that she had picked up in her travels to get back home, but a few of them were very precious items she had been carrying with her when she had been taken to Surtur's fire realm. One of which she clung to with all she had.

She picked up that item now, tears pricking at the corners of her warm brown eyes. It was a small figurine-like statuette of two men, one wearing a Howling Commandos uniform and with hair that stuck out at the sides like the pointed ears of an animal, and the other one wearing a specialized uniform and holding a symbolic shield. Captain America and Logan Howlett. The two of them had been friends, up until Captain America's disappearance after the Red Skull had escaped from his doomed castle fortress, and Logan, Savannah's father, had told his little girl many stories about their adventures together. Her father really hadn't changed much in appearance since those days…

She set down the little metal statuette, and looked over the other treasures that she kept in her makeshift house. Some were sparkling crystals that had no enchantments (unlike the gems she always carried with her), some were scraps of minerals that she had found in the various realms she had ended up in before finally making it home, and others were items that she had received from individuals that she had come across and helped when she was trying to find the next portal out of whatever realm she ended up in. She ran her fingertips over these items, remembering where each of them came from.

' _A magical bow from the Light-elf Faradei, given to me when I healed him and his horse after a riding accident… a finely-forged dagger gifted to me by the Dwarf-king Etrie after I gave him one of my spare magical gems… an enchanted cloak of warmth given to me by Hela when I retrieved a few escaped souls for her… a tassel from the helmet of Baldor the Bold, after I assisted him in defending Asgard from an army of evil creatures… and finally, the demon-armor crafted for me by the Fire-Demon Surtur, when I was still his captive._ ' Yes, each of the items was special in its own way, even though that last thing brought back bad memories, but most of it was good. Sure, the Asgardians, elves, and dwarves had been wary of her when they saw that she was wearing fire-demon armor, but after she had helped them and proved herself, they began to trust her. After all, one cannot always judge a book by its cover.

Turning away from her treasures, the young woman went over to her makeshift bed; which was comprised of a bunch of leaves stuffed into a large sack, a thin blanket, and a small pillow. It had been a long day, and she needed some rest, no matter how uncomfortable that rest might be. So, she curled up under the blanket on her leaf-filled mattress, and curled one arm around her pillow to prop her head up on it more easily. Soon, she had fallen into a fitful slumber…

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 **The Next Morning…**

Savannah woke up slowly to the sounds of twittering birds, her warm brown eyes staying unfocused for about a minute before she finally decided to kick herself into action and wake up. Luckily, she had a stash of high-caffeine snacks in her little tree-home, and had taken all precautionary measures to make sure that A) the food didn't go bad, and B) the animals wouldn't get into it. Stretching, she stood up, getting all the kinks out of her joints from sleeping on a thin mattress on an uneven wood floor and curled up, and then shuffled over to where her stash was. It was an enchanted refrigerator, the spell cast upon it being as such that it could run without electricity, and kept the food inside cold without having to use the heating coils on the back. (She lives in the trees: made of wood and highly flammable. It was a necessity.)

After grabbing a bar of dark chocolate and a Coke, she closed the refrigerator, and walked over to where she normally ate: a thin sheet draped over a tree that had broken in half long ago, and Savannah had recently leveled out the top so that she could use it as a table. Sitting down on the floor next to the 'table', she set her Coke down on the top of it, freeing her hands up to open the wrapper on her chocolate. After using her minor teleportation gem to retrieve that day's issue of the _Daily Bugle_ , she started to absent-mindedly nibble on the chocolate while she read that day's news.

"Well, looks like those Avengers have done it again…" The front page of the paper had the blaring headline of ' _Avengers VS Giant Robots!_ ', with a giant picture of said hero team fighting giant H.Y.D.R.A. machines that were attacking the harbor. After reading the story (which, to Savannah, was getting rather repetitive by this time), she found that the Avengers had managed to capture three dozen H.Y.D.R.A. agents, and subsequently win the battle. The rest of the news articles included other battles by other heroes, either solos or small teams, interspersed with a few personal interviews with some of the hero solos. The comics section was rather boring that day, so she continued on to where the ads were. She might be a mutant, but that didn't mean that she couldn't get a job. And she quite frankly needed the cash.

Soon, Savannah found a few ads that were actually quite promising, three job offers that gave her the choice between being a pet shop worker, a zookeeper, or a laboratory assistant to a Dr. Henry Pym. After calling each one to figure out the times, pay per hour, and requirements for the jobs, she decided that she would take both the job at the zoo and at Pym's lab, since both were part-time jobs. She was surprised to find that the job at the lab would actually be quite simple, even though she was actually quite scientific after pouring through science books at one of the libraries in New York City during those times when she wasn't being tailed by the MRD. And she had to report to Pym's lab in an hour.

Finishing her chocolate and quickly guzzling down her Coke, Savannah then got to work getting herself some 'normal' clothes, since her only two outfits she had were her Jaguar costume and her demon armor, and she wanted to make a good first impression. But what to choose, what to wear? Finally, she decided just to make an outfit out of cloth to go take a visit to Pym's sponsor, the fashion designer named Janet Van Dyne. What she put on was a pair of black shorts with a red T-shirt, and she decided to just teleport there so as not to attract attention to her sock-and-shoe-less feet. Soon, she had shimmered out of existence…

 **0o0o0o0o0**

When she arrived at the penthouse complex, she wandered the halls, trying to find the penthouse that Miss Van Dyne lived in, only to suddenly and accidentally bump into a woman with short brown hair and wearing jeans and a loose-fitting yellow T-shirt.

"Oh, I am _so_ sorry, ma'am! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Savannah apologized over and over again, only getting a laugh from the other woman.

"Hey, it's okay! Were you looking for someone?" Savannah looked at her in shock, and then nodded vigorously, her long black hair waving with the motion.

"Yeah, I was looking for the fashion designer, Janet Van Dyne. I… kinda need her help." The other woman laughed, and put a hand on Savannah's shoulder.

"No need to look anymore, sweetheart! I'm Janet, but you can just call me Jan! What's your name?" Savannah hesitated at this, unsure of whether or not to use her real name. Well… she had used her real name when applying for the jobs… so might as well.

"I'm Savannah, Savannah Howlett. I just got a job at Dr. Henry Pym's lab as an assistant… but I need help with getting an outfit. I only have three, including the one I'm wearing now, but no socks or shoes. And my other two outfits aren't entirely… normal." Jan nodded at this in an understanding way, smiling.

"No problem! Come to my penthouse, and I'll have you ready in just ten minutes!" With that, the older woman started to lead Savannah away by her wrist, practically dragging the mutant to the penthouse.

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 **A Few Minutes Later…**

"Okay, what kind of outfit were you thinking of?" Jan was showing Savannah her closet, both of them having been surprised that they both wore the same size clothing, and the younger woman looked through the articles of clothing curiously. Soon, she had picked out a pair of untorn skinny jeans, and was looking through the shirts.

"I was just thinking about something simple. Do you have any sneakers?" Savannah pulled a white T-shirt out of the closet, smiling at how it was sewn. Most likely a close-fitting piece of clothing, but she didn't mind.

"Sure. I've got blue, white, black, red…"

"I'll use the black ones." Savannah picked up the shoes, and then managed to find a pair of white socks. "Where can I go change my clothes?"

"You can use my bathroom. It's over there." Jan pointed over at a door across the room, and the younger woman hurried over there, and got changed in record time. When she came out, she was about to head off to Pym's lab, but was pulled over to a vanity mirror by her host. "You can't go until I do something about your hair, Savannah! Just hold still!"

"Uuuuuggghhhh…" Savannah gave a long-suffering sigh, and resigned herself to her fate. "Just as long as you don't cut it."

"Okay!" With that, the fashion designer got to work. Savannah tried not to cringe as Jan brushed her hair, the many knots trying their best not to be brushed out, and the older woman having to pause every now and then to get all of the dead hair out of the brush. Soon, however, the brush moved smoothly through Savannah's long, black hair, and Janet set it aside, and started to divide Savannah's hair into three sections. "I'm going to braid it now, if that's okay with you."

"That's fine. In fact, it'll keep it from dragging on the ground so much when it's loose." Having gained permission, Jan continued with braiding Savannah's hair, making sure that it wasn't too loose or too tight.

"You know, I bet a real hair stylist would have a lot of fun with styling your hair. There's so much of it that it'd be perfect for some really fancy styles!"

"Heh. Maybe when I get an excuse to dress up all fancy, I'll do that. But not right now. Currently, I just want to be able to get to work on time." With a giggle, Jan finished off the braid, securing the end with a hairband.

"There you go! Want me to give you a ride down to Hank's lab? I was going there anyway."

"That would be great! Thanks a lot!" Together, the two women walked out of the penthouse, and down to street level…

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 **Half an Hour Later…**

When Janet pulled her car to a stop in the parking lot, Savannah started to feel a bit intimidated by the size of the complex. Dr. Pym's laboratory was somewhere in the mass of university buildings, and out of the two women, only Miss Van Dyne knew where it was.

"So… where's the lab at?" Savannah was feeling a bit nervous, but Jan simply laughed it off.

"Just follow me, and pray that you remember the route next time you report in for work!" With that, she started off towards the buildings, leaving Savannah to scramble to catch up with her.

Just five minutes later, they arrived at the lab, and Savannah was taken aback with awe at the interior. There were insect specimens _everywhere_ , either dead and preserved or live and taken care of, and there was a _huge_ cage in the center with plants in it, and dozens of butterflies. The walls were lined with specimen cases, again, mostly butterflies, but there was an ant farm next to some equipment, and she could swear she saw a bell jar with a praying mantis somewhere in there as well. She was so captivated by the sheer amount of insects in the lab, that she didn't see her new boss at first, until Janet caught her attention.

"Hey, Hank! How's it going?" The older woman had her arms wrapped around the neck of a man wearing a white lab coat, and Savannah heard him speaking cheerfully.

"Hi, Jan! It's going pretty well. I've managed to map out the genome of a monarch butterfly, and I got a call from a nice-sounding young woman named Savannah about the part-time job I had placed an ad for in the _Daily Bugle_. I'm just waiting for her to arrive now."

"Well, the wait's over, because she's here! She came to my penthouse asking for help with getting an outfit, and I was really excited to find that she wears the exact same clothing size as me! She's right behind us, if you were wondering." Instantly, Dr. Pym spun his chair around, and Savannah got a good look at him for the first time. He was a good-looking man, with sandy light brown hair and friendly eyes, and he was wearing a suit under his lab coat that looked exactly like…

"Wait, _you're_ Ant-Man?!" Savannah was torn between shock and fangirl-like glee, and Dr. Pym nodded, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I am. Jan here's Wasp, one of the other Avengers. It's nice to meet you in person, Miss Howlett."

"Please, call me Savannah. You don't really have to be so formal." Savannah smiled at her employer, who nodded in acceptance.

"Savannah, then. Well, would you like to get to work now?"

"Yeah! I'm a bit self-taught when it comes to science, though…"

"It's okay. I can explain as we work. By the way, what are those gems on your arm guards?" Savannah glanced down at the gem-studded pieces of armor, and chuckled softly in embarrassment, her face reddening as she blushed.

"It's… a long story."

"We have time." It looked like Dr. Pym wasn't going to give up on getting answers anytime soon, so Savannah caved.

"Fine, but don't call me crazy after I explain it to you. These are actually enchanted diamonds, some with similar enchantments to others in my collection, but at different strengths. I… well… I got most of them when I was trapped in the fiery realm of the Demon called Surtur. He had captured me when I was only six years old, and I only got out of there about two months ago, one of those months having been spent trying to find my way home. You have no idea how annoying it is to go through one portal, only to end up somewhere besides my intended destination." Hank and Jan didn't seem to be judgmental. In fact… they seemed to take it as the truth.

"That's actually pretty interesting, Savannah. How old are you now?" Savannah's jaw dropped, her eyes widening in shock.

"You… you actually believe me? You don't think I'm crazy?" Janet giggled, shaking her head as she did so.

"Of course we believe you! Hel-LO! One of the Avengers is the Norse God Thor, after all! He's even taken us to other realms before! Hey… about a month and a half ago, we were scattered throughout the Nine Realms! Did you happen to see us then?" Savannah considered this, reviewing her memories of that time.

"Yes… yes I do! I was in Vannaheim when I saw your big green friend, Hulk, attacking a prisoner convoy! I would have helped, but I found another portal then, and I jumped through to find myself stuck in some shadowy realm that I don't remember the name of. I saw your friend Black Panther there, and I subtly helped him to escape from the Dark Elves there. After I jumped through another portal, I ended up in Alfheim, and I lost track of him after that. I was hoping that, if I followed him, I would end up back home soon, but I couldn't find him, and I was attacked by giant, mean wolves just minutes after arriving there." Both of the heroes winced, able to imagine just how mean those giant wolves were after hearing about them from Hawkeye and Panther.

"Wow. You know, it might have helped if you had revealed yourself to Panther." At that, Savannah took her turn to wince, imagining how badly it would have gone if she _had_ revealed herself to the hero at that time.

"Wasp, picture this. Chased by giant wolves, not knowing where his team was, and then a young woman wearing demon armor comes out of the bushes yelling 'Hi there, you!' How badly do you think that would have ended for me?" Dead. Silence. The two heroes were most likely running that scenario through their minds, and then they both winced simultaneously. "Exactly. The demon armor was all that I had at that point, so he and the others would have easily mistaken me for being one of Loki's lackeys, and react accordingly. I didn't want to take the chance of being either pummeled into the ground, shot full of arrows, being on the receiving end of vibranium weaponry, or any mix of the three, no matter _how_ fast I'd heal!"

"I see your point. Well, at least now we won't mistake you for one of Loki's followers. Now, how about we get to work… and do you think that I could borrow one of your magical gems to study it?" Ant-Man's little afterthought made Savannah smile despite herself, and she examined the gems on both armguards.

"Hmm… it'll have to be one of the less-dangerous ones… more mundane… I know!" With that, she pried a nickel-sized, glowing sea-blue gem out of its slot on her right armguard, and held it up with the thumb and forefinger of her left hand. "This is a simple, low-power levitation gem. It only works for objects that are under 10 Ibs in weight."

"Thanks!" Hank carefully took the gem into his own hand, and his eyes reflected the faint blue light that emanated from it. "Wow… I actually get to study an enchanted object that I don't need anyone's help to carry… This is amazing!"

"I'm glad I could make you happy, Boss."

"Please, just call me Hank. It feels a bit weird having someone call me 'boss'. Now, how about you start off by helping me sort out the genome for the banded swallowtail butterfly?"

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 **Hours Later…**

Savannah sighed as she left the laboratory building, heading off towards the street to catch a cab to the zoo. It had been quite an eventful day already, and it wasn't even half over yet! Dr. Pym had gotten a call from the Avengers about an hour ago, telling him that they needed his and Janet's help, so he had left the lab in her hands until her shift was up. After he and Jan had left, Savannah had finished mapping the genome of the banded swallowtail butterfly, and filed it away in the lab's computer for her part-time employer to look over once he was able to get back to the lab. Soon, she had gotten into a cab, and was on her way to the zoo for her other new part-time job.

Once they arrived at the zoo, thirty minutes later, the young woman paid the cab driver for the ride, and walked over to the staff entrance, and knocked on the door. It swung open seconds later, revealing a woman with short red hair that looked to be only five or six years older than Savannah was, wearing a zookeeper uniform, and her tag read 'Sally'.

"Hi, there! You must be the new girl. Savannah, right?"

"That's me." Smiling broadly, Sally waved her inside, and closed the door behind them.

"I can't tell you how glad we are to have you here, even if it's only part-time! How much experience do you have with wild animals?"

"Enough to know what their moods are and if they're about to try to bite my head off." Savannah's joke got a laugh out of the older woman, who clapped a hand on the younger's shoulder in good humor.

"I think you're going to fit right in, Savannah! Hey, do you have any nicknames we can call you, 'cause 'Savannah's a bit of a mouthful if you ask me." Savannah paused briefly, thinking.

"Well… someone once called my 'Savvy'. Does that work?" This earned a broad grin from Sally, who nodded vigorously.

"Yep! Come on, I'll show you where your uniform locker is, Savvy." The older woman led Savannah over to where a lot of other women were gathered, some taking uniforms off and others putting them on, and showed her a locker that nobody was opening. "This is your locker. You've got two full uniforms, complete with hats, two nametags in case one of them gets lost, and two pairs of work boots. If the boots don't fit, you can trade 'em in at that station over there."

Sally motioned over to a long desk on the other side of the room, where an older woman was sorting through different boots. Then, Savannah looked back at her locker. There was no combination lock on it, so anyone could open it, but she was pretty sure that a lock was inside the locker, ready for her to input a combination to act as her locking code.

"One question: do I get to wear my necklace, as long as I keep it tucked under my shirt?"

"Sure! And you can keep your pretty armguards on, too! Who knows? Maybe they'll be what keeps one of the predators from biting your hand off. Now get dressed, you're expected at the big cat enclosures in ten minutes." With that, Sally left, and Savannah quickly opened her locker. Just as she had thought, there was a combination lock sitting on top of her clothes. She took it out, along with one pair of boots, and a full uniform set of clothes. ' _At least I now know why they asked for my clothing sizes…_ '

Once she was fully dressed, she found that there was no need to ask for a different shoe size, for the boots fit her perfectly. After pulling the sleeves of the uniform shirt over her armguards to cover them, she tucked her necklace under both her work shirt and the white T-shirt she wore under it. Then, she went over to a desk, and picked up a map and a set of keys to one of the zoo's staff vehicles, after gaining permission from one of the older ladies working there. Then, she left the room, and tried to find her way to where they kept the vehicles. ' _Come on… where are they?_ '

"Hey, you new here?" Startled by the sudden voice, Savannah spun around, only to find herself face-to-chest with a tall man, who also wore a zookeeper uniform. His nametag read 'Johnathan', and when she tilted her head back to look at his face, she noted that he had shaggy blonde hair and a short beard in the same color, as well as kind green eyes and a smile on his lips.

"Y-yeah, I'm new…" Savannah didn't know anyone who worked at the zoo other than Sally, and even then only for the past ten minutes or so, so she was pretty nervous. To her surprise, though, Johnathan smiled even broader, and held out his right hand in greeting.

"Well, I'm one of the two Head Zookeepers for the Big Cats part of the zoo. I know my nametag says 'Johnathan', but you can just call me John or Johnny." Savannah shook his hand politely, but suddenly it was like a light turned on in Savannah's mind, as something clicked.

"Wait… I was assigned to the Big Cats enclosures! Does that mean that you're my new boss?" John's eyes widened at this, and then he laughed loudly when he realized what that meant.

"Ha! Well, it looks like they've finally gotten me a replacement for Max! You see, Max was one of our part-time keepers, but he had to leave the job when one of our tigers nearly tore off his arm. Hopefully, you'll be able to handle the cats." Savannah chuckled softly, smirking slightly.

"Oh, I can handle big cats. If I can handle trying to tame giant wolves, I can handle cats no problem. Besides, I like cats." John laughed again, clapping a hand on the young woman's right shoulder good-naturedly.

"You'll fit right in, newbie! So, you got a nickname we can call you?"

"Savvy."

"Nice! Well, come on, I'll show you where to find the staff vehicles. Also, we've got a new addition to the Jaguar enclosure coming in from Wakanda, courtesy of the Black Panther. He said that it was a rogue panther that had been raiding the pride that lives in the Royal Gardens, and once his people had captured it, he asked if we would be willing to take it on. It'll be tough, but we're hoping that we'll be able to train it for public viewing." This piqued Savannah's curiosity, as she walked alongside the taller Zookeeper.

"A black jaguar from Wakanda? Sounds interesting."

"Oh, it is. We're also hoping that we'll be able to get on good terms with the beast, so that he won't try to kill us every time we go to feed him." At this, Savannah smirked, and winked at her new boss.

"I can probably do that. You've seen my file, right?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, I have. It's actually a bit of a relief to the rest of us that you'll be helping out with the big cats. Although, I'm surprised that you said that you are a mutant in your resumé."

"Well, I don't like to lie to others, so I try to be as honest as I possibly can. Besides, I wouldn't want to have to pretend to be normal, and thus reduce my ability to help in the event that one of the animals gets loose and goes nuts." They fell silent then, as they had reached the garage for the staff vehicles. Savannah handed the keys she had been carrying over to John, who put the correct key into the ignition, and started up what looked to be a modified golf cart. The young woman got into the passenger-side seat, and the two of them started off towards the Big Cat enclosures…

 **0o0o0o0o0**

It took the two of them all of about five minutes to reach their destination, but by that time, the others for that section of the zoo had already received the new addition to the jaguar enclosure, and were currently trying to get the massive black jaguar to calm down enough for them to transfer him from the delivery cage into the smaller of the three jaguar enclosures, just to get him used to the area. When one of them, a woman with shoulder-length sandy brown hair, saw the two of them arrive, her expression became one of relief.

"You're here! Oh, thank goodness! This guy's been giving us a lot of trouble! Is that the new girl?"

"Yeah, Minty! Everyone, this is Savannah, the newest addition to our part-time team! She's going to help you guys get the new cat into his kennel! Savvy?" John looked over at Savannah, who nodded, and got out of the vehicle. Nimbly, she climbed on top of the cage that contained the large black jaguar, and then hopped down on the other side, landing inside of the enclosure.

"John, what is she doing?! She'll get herself _killed_!"

"No, she won't. She's the mutant that we hired. She'll be fine." Then, John looked over at Savannah. "Savvy, you ready?"

"Ready! Open the cage, and I'll handle the rest!" Then, two of the other zookeepers pulled on two different chains, lifting the door to the cage. As soon as there was enough room for him to leave, the jaguar bolted, trying to go anywhere but inside the enclosure, but the young woman wasn't having any of that. The mutant leaped forward, and wrapped her arms around his chest, shoulders, and front legs, effectively bringing him to the ground. When he attempted to bite her, she moved her left arm so that his jaws bit down on her forearm, where her armguards were hidden under the sleeve. Instantly, he released her, growling in slight pain from biting down on the enchanted diamonds, and Savannah took advantage of the distraction to move her left arm over so that her elbow was positioned directly beneath his lower jaw, and started to pull him towards the enclosure. He fought back every inch of the way, but the young mutant kept her grip firm, using every ounce of her superhuman strength to keep moving backwards. Once, the black panther managed to claw her on her right thigh, but other than a grunt of pain, she showed no reaction, and the wound healed only fifteen seconds after it was inflicted.

Soon, she brought the large jaguar to a standstill, right in the center of the enclosure, and the few visitors that were watching the transfer were taking plenty of pictures, but she ignored them, as well as the news reporters that were catching live feed of what was going on. While she held the jaguar in place, the other zookeepers were moving the cage out of the way of the door, and closing the door behind them when John told them to. Then, once everything was locked, he shouted to her, "Savvy, you can get out of there now!"

Savannah didn't need any more encouragement. Quickly, she released her hold on the massive black cat, and darted for the high walls around the enclosure, the jaguar chasing her in anger. Mere seconds before he would have knocked her down with his large paws, the young woman jumped up, and ricocheted off of his back, and grabbed the top of the wall. After pulling herself up, she hopped down to land lightly on her feet outside of the enclosure, her hair starting to come out of its braid from all of the activity and the little wrestling match between her and the large black panther. Instantly, the news crew went over to her, the reporter shoving her microphone in the young woman's face.

"Miss Savannah, could you answer a few questions for us?" The young mutant paused briefly, startled, and then smiled kindly, unintentionally revealing her sharper-than-normal canine teeth.

"Sure! What did you have in mind?" The news lady smiled happily, and then moved the microphone back towards herself.

"Well, Miss Savannah, how were you able to strong-arm that animal into his enclosure?" Savannah chuckled nervously, and then just decided to say it outright.

"Well, I'm a mutant. I have enhanced abilities that allow me to do things that most people can't, like subdue a giant black jaguar. I'm not ashamed to say it, it's just who I am." The reporter's hazel eyes widened, but she didn't miss a beat when she asked her second question.

"A mutant? And you still got the job?"

"Yeah. I have to admit, I was a little surprised that I got the job, especially since I pretty much listed every single ability I have thanks to my mutant gene on my resumé. I was also surprised when my new boss told me that my abilities are actually the reason why they hired me in the first place." The other zookeepers were coming now, but the reporter ignored them in favor of the interview.

"Well, would you care to tell us more about your abilities?"

"Sure! Like I said before, I have enhanced abilities, which includes speed, strength, agility, senses, and a rapid healing factor. I also have other abilities, but I think my boss wants to have a word with me." Savannah motioned over to where John and the other zookeepers were patiently waiting by the jaguar enclosure, and the reporter lady chuckled.

"Alright, I'll let you get back to your job."

"Thanks." As Savannah walked over to where the other zookeepers were, she could hear the reporter talking about who she had just interviewed, and that she was turning it back over to one of the other reporters.

"Well, Savvy, you did a great job. I'm glad that we made the right choice in hiring you."

"Thanks, John. I…" John cut off what Savannah was going to say, raising a hand to silently tell her that he had more to say.

"That's why I'm giving you primary responsibility for our new addition. You get to name him, you're in charge of training him, and you're the one to sort out what the best diet for him is. Can you handle this responsibility?"

"Yes, sir! I'll do my best!" Savannah smiled at her boss, who grinned back at her.

"Good to hear! Now, I'll expect the name for this guy to be a good one, you hear me?"

"I won't let you down, John! Can I use a computer to look up names and meanings?"

"Sure. Go with Minty, okay?"

"Okay." Savannah then turned to the zookeeper from before, the woman with the sandy brown hair, and got a big smile from her.

"Come on, I'll take you to the research room…"

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 **Hours Later…**

Savannah was practically shaking with excitement. She had just spent hours of searching through names on the internet, when she had remembered that the jaguar had been sent from Wakanda, which was in Africa. So, she went to look through male African names, and stumbled upon a veritable goldmine of possible choices! Now, she was trying to choose between two names, and was considering using both of them to give the jaguar both a first name and a last name. But would she? And if so, what order? Finally, she went back to the page that she had been sent which contained the new addition's information, and typed in the name, and put the meaning of both parts of it in the box below it.

' _Kwada Akinsanya. Translation: Night has fallen. The hero avenges._ '

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 **The Next Morning…**

Savannah woke up in her tree dwelling in the heart of the forest, smiling about the little surprise she had made for the Avengers, the Black Panther in particular. She had gotten permission from her boss to download a copy of Kwada's file onto a jump-drive, and was going to deliver it to Dr. Pym when she reported in for work that morning. Speaking of which… she had to get ready.

Hurriedly, she got up, grabbed a bar of dark chocolate from her enchanted refrigerator, and quickly got dressed in the outfit that Jan had given her the day before. She winced when she saw the four long claw marks on the right thigh of the jeans, remembering that she had worn them under her zookeeper uniform when she had been wrestling the black jaguar into his own private enclosure, but she couldn't do a thing about it until she got more thread. ' _I really need to get myself a thread-making gem sometime…_ '

At the very least, she easily took care of the bloodstains on the jeans, using a cleaning gem she had gotten a few months ago in the fire realm belonging to the fire demon Surtur, and decided that she'd cross the bridge of explaining why Wasp's jeans were ripped when she came to it. After checking the time with the small watch she wore just above her left armguard, her eyes widened in shock, as she realized that she'd have to teleport there to get there on time. Hurriedly, she activated her teleportation gem, and shimmered out of existence…

 **0o0o0o0o0**

When she re-materialized, Savannah was standing in Pym's lab, looking at said scientist from behind as he sat typing at his computer. "Dr. Pym, I'm here!"

"Oh, hi, Savannah. You doing okay? I saw you on the news yesterday." The mutant's blood ran cold, as she had forgotten all about the impromptu interview after she wrangled the jaguar.

"Oh, you did?"

"Yep. I have to admit that what you did was pretty impressive, even though Panther was worried for your safety. He was, after all, the one who had the black jaguar shipped to the zoo. Speaking of which, are you okay?" Pym turned his chair around, and his eyes immediately found the four long gashes in the right thigh of Savannah's borrowed jeans.

"Okay, before you say anything, I'm _fine_. I have a healing factor, that's all. Also, I was wondering if you could help me with something…" Savannah trailed off, not quite sure how to ask what she wanted to, but Pym decided to make a wild guess.

"Help you… fix Jan's jeans?" The young woman burst out laughing, tears sliding down her cheeks from laughing so hard. When she finally got herself mostly under control, she shook her head.

"No! I… I wanted to know if you could give something to King T'Challa for me?" Pym's eyes widened, but then his expression became one of curiosity.

"Sure, what is it?" Wordlessly, the young woman held out the jump-drive to him, and he took it into his own hand to examine it.

"It's information that I got permission to copy from the zoo's animal database, specifically the info on the black jaguar we received yesterday. I think he and the rest of you Avengers will be surprised at what I named him…"

 **0o0o0o0o0**

 ** _Okay, everyone, that's all for this chapter! Next chapter will have a time skip on it, just as an FYI, so you guys don't get confused. I'm also going to try to loosely base this off of the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes shows, particularly the second season, but be prepared for scenarios that aren't included! I know that the series is titled 'The Snake and the Jaguar', so I'll try to include more Death Adder in the next chapter. And I forgot the disclaimers at the beginning, so I'll put them here._**

 ** _I do not own A:EMH or any related characters, only the OCs and the plot. Until next time, everyone!_**


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